Etihad Airways to Launch daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will commence daily non-stop flights between its home base of Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, from June 15, 2013.

JatAirways, Serbia’s
national carrier, will place its JU code on the new service, as well as to 21 destinations
on the Etihad Airways network. In return Etihad Airways will place its EY code
on 23 of JatAirways’ European flights. All subject to government and regulatory
approval.

These new Etihad Airways
flights will help provide better access to Belgrade for several hundred
thousand Serbian nationals living around the world.

Etihad Airways will operate
a two cabin Airbus A319 aircraft on the service between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade,
configured to carry 106 passengers, with 16 seats in Pearl Business Class and 90
seats in Coral Economy Class.

The announcement was made
today, Monday April 15, at a media conference in Belgrade hosted by James
Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr Hogan was
joined at the media conference by Vladimir Ognjenović, JatAirways’ Chief
Executive Officer.

Mr Hogan said: “The launch
of Etihad Airways’ flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade, and the partnership
development with JatAirways, will cater for the significant and growing demand
for air travel between the UAE and Serbia, as well as cities with large Serbian
populations around the world, particularly in Australia and the US.

“Etihad Airways’ strategy
of working closely with a local partner in new markets has brought impressive
results and we are confident that the cooperation with JatAirways will benefit
both airlines and, most of all, air travellers who will now have better connections
and services to and from Serbia.”

Among the many benefits
that the Etihad Airways’ Belgrade service will bring is seamless connectivity
with the airline’s flights between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne and Sydney, supporting
the strong historical and cultural links between Serbia and Australia.

Currently there are more
than 100,000 Australian citizens of Serbian ancestry, mostly residing in
Melbourne and Sydney.

Vladimir Ognjenović, JatAirways’
Chief Executive Officer, said: “It is our great pleasure to welcome Etihad
Airways to Belgrade and codeshare with the UAE’s national airline and the
world’s leading airline. We look forward to increasing the number of passengers
travelling between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi and enhancing the relationship
between Serbia and the UAE.

“The expanded codeshare
will also provide Serbian nationals with great opportunities to travel beyond
Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways and to destinations in the Middle East, Far East,
Africa and Australia. We are also excited to place the EY code on JatAirways’
flights across the Balkan Region and Europe and build upon Belgrade’s great
role as a hub.”

JatAirways will also place
its code on a number of the flights operated by Etihad Airways’ equity partner,
airberlin. A major highlight of this would be the provision of a direct link
for passengers travelling from Belgrade, via Berlin, to Chicago in the US.

The capital of Illinois has
the second largest Serbian population of any city in the world, with an
estimated 200,000 Serb nationals living in Chicago, and up to 500,000 residents
of Serb origin.

Belgrade will become the
third of six new destinations to be served by Etihad Airways in 2013, following
the launch in March of flights to Washington, D.C., and in May to Amsterdam.